The subject matter disclosed herein relates to borescope assemblies, such as those used in turbine assemblies, as well as a method of installing borescope plugs.
Borescopes are used to visually inspect internal components of turbine assemblies, such as gas turbine engines, for example. They are typically inserted through borescope holes placed in locations of a static structure that lead to internal locations of interest. Such insertion occurs during an outage. When the turbine assembly is in operation, the borescope holes must be plugged and sealed to reduce or prevent hot gases from being emitted from the turbine which would result in overall system performance and/or safety issues. Plugging of the holes is done with a borescope plug. Typically, the borescope holes are similar in diameter, but vary in length. Similarly, the borescope plugs to be inserted into the borescope holes are similar in diameter, but vary in length. Maintenance personnel must use caution to ensure that a borescope plug of a given length is not inserted into a borescope hole with a distinct length. Incorrect insertion may create a leak path due to the fact that a short plug has a tendency to seal improperly. Additionally, incorrect insertion may impose a situation where a long borescope plug (relative to the borescope hole) is bent during insertion. This incorrect assembly condition may also result in leakages, disassembly issues, and delays during an outage.